An expert on the value of the program is Debra Pastore of Washington State University, who directs a program that guides 200 teachers through the certification process each year. Some 70 percent of those teachers twice the national average achieve certification on their first try. For more information on the program, visit https://education.wsu.edu/collaboration/nbpts/.
Pastore can be reached at 509-335-7475 or dpastore@wsu.edu.
WSU offers another path for teachers who want to be at the top of their profession: a doctorate in teacher leadership. For more information on that new, statewide program, visit
https://education.wsu.edu/news/releases/teacherleader/.
What to watch for in a coach
As their student athletes head for courts and playing fields, parents will want to keep an eye on the coach as well as the ball. Good coaching is more than knowing tactics, said Washington State University Associate Professor Jennifer Beller, a researcher and consultant in the WSU College of Education.
Beller explores the ethical issues surrounding youth, intercollegiate and interscholastic sports. “An individual can be a great coach in terms of skill, tactics, and coaching abilities, but come up short in terms of moral character,” Beller said. She is available at 509-335-4907 or jbeller@wsu.edu. More information about her can be found at https://education.wsu.edu/directory/faculty/bellerj
“Art class” can be every class
With so much emphasis on math and verbal skills in school these days, do children have any chance of developing their artistic talents? Absolutely, said Pauline Sameshima, an assistant professor of education at Washington State University.
Sameshimaan artist and authoruses visual art, music, dance, drama “or anything creative” to deepen learning in other subjects. “For example, when you put math data in graph form, you can analyze the data in new ways because you are looking at it in picture form. When children act out literary scenarios, they more deeply understand the relationships between the characters. When children create a TV infomercial on frogs in their science class, they are synthesizing their understandings on frogs while also developing aesthetic, organizational, and technology skills.”
To learn more about Sameshima, visit https://education.wsu.edu/directory/faculty/sameshimap. She can be reached at 509-335-5804 or psameshima@wsu.edu.
For further information, contact Boerner at aboerner@hoquiam.k12.wa.us.
